By Leticia Suarez-Orendain
Mixing job creation with environmental protection, beekeepers stay as busy as, well, bees
BEES are nature’s chemists and man’s inspiration for altruism.
Worker bees draw nectar from flowers and convert it into honey in special sacs in their esophagi. They feed honey to bee larvae and store the rest in honeycombs as food for rainy days.
The tiny insects, however, are wary of flowers that have been sprayed with pesticides.
“The bee has a ‘natural mentality’ not to enter the hive if it accidentally lands on flowers sprayed with pesticides. If it is unaware that it has been contaminated, it will re-enter the hive but guard bees will drive it off. It will not insist, knowing that doing so would harm the hive. So it stays below the hive, crawls round and round, until it dies,” Roberto “Boy” Flores Sr. said in Cebuano.
Flores, a resident of Lomboy, Banawa, is the president of the National Beekeepers Network in the Philippines and treasurer of Cebu Honeybeekeepers Association Inc. (Chai). The latter was organized in 1993, former Chai vice president Catalino “Titing” Solon said.
All abuzz
“Some of the founders were City Agriculturist Joey Baclayon and Roberto “Jojo” Nemenzo, one of the beekeeping coordinators of the Department of Agriculture (DA 7),” Solon said.
Chai mainly promotes beekeeping in Cebu and all over the Philippines. There are 60 active members as of now, and all are working for the welfare of the group.
The non-government organization (NGO) updates the know-how of members with trainings in beekeeping management. In 2006, they had training in new methods of bee technology. This year, they held a seminar, open to the public, at the DA Livestock Division on M. Velez St. from March 7 to 8.
“Anyone can be a beekeeper as long as he or she is not allergic to pollen and pollen products,” Flores said.
Asked if beekeeping can help answer the unemployment problem, he said in Cebuano: “I believe beekeeping is a good venture but if you are just starting, it’s better to keep it as a hobby. Observe first how the production goes. Only then can you make it a business.”
The former overseas worker (a ship radio operator) knows whereof he speaks. When he retired in 2000, God answered his prayers by inspiring him to try beekeeping, he said. “It has supported my family; sent my four children to school.”
Protection
Rosales, who lives in Lourdes Village, Cebu City, said that after taking a beekeeping seminar in 1999, he has never looked back. It is his main livelihood now.
“It was my first time to learn bees can be cultured,” he said in Cebuano.
Just as bees protect their hive, Chai also seeks to protect the environment. “We depend on the surrounding vegetation for our bee products. Beepkeepers don’t want to cut down trees, except for development,” Flores said.
If more fruit trees are planted, honey output will increase. In the Philippines, honey is multi-floral. Cebu’s honey is mainly from narra, acacia and mango nectar. Other sources may be tamarind, lomboy, mahogany, and lagundi.
The NGO advocates natural farming, the use of organic fertilizers, composting and vermiculture (i.e., growing earthworms). They promote the use of three types of natural repellents: bitter, smelly and spicy plants. For example, the bitter juice from panyawan effectively wards off bugs.
Chai wants to maximize honey and pollen production. However, their problem is marketing. They have the technology for value-added goods—like beeswax candles, skin cream, honey vinegar, and soap—but because members have day jobs, no one can sell the items full time.
Another concern is “honey-bal” or honey sold in a balde (pail), which gives honey a bad name. It is an adulterated jumble of honey, molasses and honeycomb to “prove” purity, Rosales said.
“Summer is our main honey flow,” he added. Honey flow refers to the time when flowers bloom and make nectar. For Cebu, it is from March to June.
“You can buy honey from us during off-season as we have stocks in bottles,” Flores said.
Chai is acting like the bee: forthright in its duty and protective of its environment.
When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.
Mixing job creation with environmental protection, beekeepers stay as busy as, well, bees
BEES are nature’s chemists and man’s inspiration for altruism.
Worker bees draw nectar from flowers and convert it into honey in special sacs in their esophagi. They feed honey to bee larvae and store the rest in honeycombs as food for rainy days.
The tiny insects, however, are wary of flowers that have been sprayed with pesticides.
“The bee has a ‘natural mentality’ not to enter the hive if it accidentally lands on flowers sprayed with pesticides. If it is unaware that it has been contaminated, it will re-enter the hive but guard bees will drive it off. It will not insist, knowing that doing so would harm the hive. So it stays below the hive, crawls round and round, until it dies,” Roberto “Boy” Flores Sr. said in Cebuano.
Flores, a resident of Lomboy, Banawa, is the president of the National Beekeepers Network in the Philippines and treasurer of Cebu Honeybeekeepers Association Inc. (Chai). The latter was organized in 1993, former Chai vice president Catalino “Titing” Solon said.
All abuzz
“Some of the founders were City Agriculturist Joey Baclayon and Roberto “Jojo” Nemenzo, one of the beekeeping coordinators of the Department of Agriculture (DA 7),” Solon said.
Chai mainly promotes beekeeping in Cebu and all over the Philippines. There are 60 active members as of now, and all are working for the welfare of the group.
The non-government organization (NGO) updates the know-how of members with trainings in beekeeping management. In 2006, they had training in new methods of bee technology. This year, they held a seminar, open to the public, at the DA Livestock Division on M. Velez St. from March 7 to 8.
“Anyone can be a beekeeper as long as he or she is not allergic to pollen and pollen products,” Flores said.
Asked if beekeeping can help answer the unemployment problem, he said in Cebuano: “I believe beekeeping is a good venture but if you are just starting, it’s better to keep it as a hobby. Observe first how the production goes. Only then can you make it a business.”
The former overseas worker (a ship radio operator) knows whereof he speaks. When he retired in 2000, God answered his prayers by inspiring him to try beekeeping, he said. “It has supported my family; sent my four children to school.”
Protection
Rosales, who lives in Lourdes Village, Cebu City, said that after taking a beekeeping seminar in 1999, he has never looked back. It is his main livelihood now.
“It was my first time to learn bees can be cultured,” he said in Cebuano.
Just as bees protect their hive, Chai also seeks to protect the environment. “We depend on the surrounding vegetation for our bee products. Beepkeepers don’t want to cut down trees, except for development,” Flores said.
If more fruit trees are planted, honey output will increase. In the Philippines, honey is multi-floral. Cebu’s honey is mainly from narra, acacia and mango nectar. Other sources may be tamarind, lomboy, mahogany, and lagundi.
The NGO advocates natural farming, the use of organic fertilizers, composting and vermiculture (i.e., growing earthworms). They promote the use of three types of natural repellents: bitter, smelly and spicy plants. For example, the bitter juice from panyawan effectively wards off bugs.
Chai wants to maximize honey and pollen production. However, their problem is marketing. They have the technology for value-added goods—like beeswax candles, skin cream, honey vinegar, and soap—but because members have day jobs, no one can sell the items full time.
Another concern is “honey-bal” or honey sold in a balde (pail), which gives honey a bad name. It is an adulterated jumble of honey, molasses and honeycomb to “prove” purity, Rosales said.
“Summer is our main honey flow,” he added. Honey flow refers to the time when flowers bloom and make nectar. For Cebu, it is from March to June.
“You can buy honey from us during off-season as we have stocks in bottles,” Flores said.
Chai is acting like the bee: forthright in its duty and protective of its environment.
When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.
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